Pretty upset with myself about now. I discovered a little while ago that the last time I worked on my GP electrical, I left the battery hooked up (against my rule in the attached garage/workshop I am in) AND not only that, I forgot the key on. I killed my almost new Delco battery since it is almost a week ago.
Any hope of restoring it? It's down to about 1/2 a volt. I know the trick of putting a set of booster cables on it to a known good battery, then hook up a charger but when I put cables between the two batteries I got a fairly substantial spark, which shouldn't happen, so I just unhooked it. Tried 3 times, same thing each time so I gave up. I don't want to kill my trickle charger or the good battery I was trying it with.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
And I guess besides all that, my out of the box rebuilt distributor will likely have a burned set of points as well as maybe a condenser and I'm worried for my cool Canadian-only aluminum coil too.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I have had decent batteries go completely dead a couple of times and didn't have any trouble bringing them back to life with just a trickle charger or am I missing something here. Happened to my daughter's car this spring when she came back from university and it has worked fine all year.
When I hooked up the trickle charger it pegged the meter and buzzed pretty loud. I didn't want to kill it. I've seen it done where you run a set of booster cables between a stone dead and a good battery. Then hook up a charger and it will put a charge into the dead one, but the sparks when I put cables between the two batteries makes me nervous. There should be no spark just putting two batteries on the floor and hooking up booster cables between the two of them.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Had many a battery go dead at our prop in 100 mile(no hydro) including an 8d,found that if I charge it 1/4 to 1/2 and then give it a good boost of 50-90 amps for a minute or 2 it recovers fine,apparently it removes ions or sulpher from the plates( I'm no mechanic ).I would think your coil would be fine and you shouldn't have to file your points if they were open.As far as spark goes when jumping a bat to bat when 1 is dead you wil get a spark as far as I know.It's like charging an air tank,when you first start ,the air or current flow is trying to equalize as fast as it can,the closer it gets to even the slower or longer it takes to equalize.Hope this makes scence.Just a newbee trying to help.
Could be way off here, but I think I'd just try to work it back as slowly as possible with a low current battery maintainer. Do you think the spark might be because of the large difference in potential between the two?
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65 Laurentian post, 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT.
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
when a battery is that dead it needs a big charger with lots of amps a trickle charger will not do it .... a new set of points and you will be on your way .. good luck
Could be way off here, but I think I'd just try to work it back as slowly as possible with a low current battery maintainer. Do you think the spark might be because of the large difference in potential between the two?
That may well be. I may just leave the cables on for a bit, then try a charger. Maybe I'll take it with me to work and put a big charger on it.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Lotsa new batteries are run down to zero and then recharged.......no problem
But if this battery won't take a charge then it is defective.........I've never had a problem
taking a battery back..........that should be your first move..........
don't be switching out any acid..........that will be abuse and if it doesn't work then you will
be out a battery.........if it's a reputable shop - they'll take it back
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......big block, 4 speed, bench seat, it doesn't get much better
Lotsa new batteries are run down to zero and then recharged.......no problem
But if this battery won't take a charge then it is defective.........I've never had a problem taking a battery back..........that should be your first move..........
...if it's a reputable shop - they'll take it back
He probably bought it from "himself" at "his" own dealership
Now he's feeling guilty and doesn't want to treat himself like a "normal Good customer"
Depending on the cca of the battery, different methods can be used. Hi out put batteries of 800 to 1000 cca have more plates but the plates are thinner. Using high current to recharge will warp the plates. Batteries of 450 to 700 can take a higher current because of the thicker plates. Proper way of recharging a dead battery is with a 2 amp charger which prevents hydrogen gas build up and warping of the plates. Bringing the battery to room temperature will help speed the charging rate.
you should always charge a battery that has needed a boost, in most cases the alternator will not fully charge a battery. I have seen a lot of alternators fail after the battery has been boosted several times. And most people believe it was the alternator failing in the first place. (Former exide dealer)
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pontiax- (canadian pontiac X frame)1964 Parisienne 2dr. Hardtop ,lagoon aqua metallic (Q) ,421 cid Dart Industries block and heads. 550 hp. 575 ft lb of torque.
I only Switched out the acid because i had boiled it dry, this was in a Canadian tire with a life time warranty (bought in the 70's) and
i did not want to loose it.
think over the years they have replaced it at least 8 to 9 times. Seem to last about 5 years..
bjburnout wrote:
don't be switching out any acid..........that will be abuse and if it doesn't work then you will be out a battery.........if it's a reputable shop - they'll take it back
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Surrey BC
1963 Acadian Beaumont Sport Deluxe http://www.63acadian.com/
I only Switched out the acid because i had boiled it dry, this was in a Canadian tire with a life time warranty (bought in the 70's) and
i did not want to loose it.
think over the years they have replaced it at least 8 to 9 times. Seem to last about 5 years..
bjburnout wrote:
don't be switching out any acid..........that will be abuse and if it doesn't work then you will be out a battery.........if it's a reputable shop - they'll take it back
Dan, why in earth's name would you go through all that trouble to keep a warranty for a Canadian Tire battery that you've had for 40 years. Do you like them that much? AC Delco batteries aren't a thousand dollars last time I checked, closer to around a hundred I think. Sure a lot of horsing around for a hundred dollars and an old battery. I think batteries are a bargain and are better than they ever have been.
